The Foundation for Enterprise Development Announces
National Essay Contest Winners

Student from Rady School of Management at UC San Diego Named National Winner of Creating Wealth By Sharing Wealth™ Essay Contest

Terry Williamson, a second year MBA Candidate at the Rady School of Management, University of California San Diego, has been selected as the first place winner of the inaugural national essay contest. The essay competition, sponsored by the Foundation for Enterprise Development (FED), catalyzed college students' thinking on business principles and strategies required for the future success of our economy.

Williamson said in his essay:
“The difference will not be in the quality or novelty of the product I sell, or the service my company offers, but in the commitment, motivation, and empowerment of the people who do not work for but who work with me. I am calling it my two cows and a cart strategy.”

More than 430 graduate and undergraduate students, representing 18 U.S. campuses across 14 states, submitted essays describing their strategies and practices for increasing employee motivation and participation in enterprise growth, creating innovative and productive firms, and establishing more sustainable economies in the 21st century through broad-based employee ownership and profit sharing in the corporation. Participating students were from diverse disciplines including business administration, engineering, social science, and information technology.

“Their words are strikingly honest, express hope, present emergent ideas for improving our economic system, and demonstrate conviction of their beliefs,” said Mary Ann Beyster, president of the FED. “Students across the nation not only get it, but will lead the way in establishing new cooperative and innovative models of the modern corporation based on more people winning, rather than a few.”

Below are some highlights from the winning essays. The complete essays from all the national winners are available at: http://www.fed.org/education-essay-contest. The Web site also has a listing of the students with essays designated as winning, best-in-class or honorable mentions as well as their LinkedIn information, if provided, for companies who wish to contact them. Student resumes are available upon request from the FED.

They convey insights on effective corporate leadership:

“If an organization can be thought of as a vehicle, the wheels are its people. They transform the motivational energy into directional purpose. They are the contact point between the organization and the outside world; however, in order to function properly, each wheel must be properly balanced, and all must be set in the same direction, with very little margin for error.”Douglas Ashburn, MBA candidate, Illinois Institute of Technology, Chicago, Ill.2nd place national winner

“People want to be a part of something great. Great ideas come from people with the incentive and freedom to explore; and in that respect business is no different than any other discipline.”Scotty McWilliams, BBA candidate, Finance and Economics, LaMar University, Beaumont, Texas.4th place national winner

They articulate their assessments of corporate shortcomings:

“In the midst of our own great recession, what idea could be more powerful than a country in which we all own the future? Employees are not commodities to be fired when the business does poorly and provided with disproportionally low compensation when the business does well, but are vested stakeholders who have a legitimate right to share power and responsibility.”Tejdev Sandhu, M.S. candidate, Accounting and Information Systems, Virginia TechBest in class

They argue for government economic policies and programs consistent with America’s constitution that states its intent to promote the general welfare:

“For the proponents of greater social equality it [employee ownership] enables the workers to own the enterprise and means of production, and for the adherents of Adam Smith’s principles of economics, it operates within the boundaries of the free market under the premise of self-interested competition, increasing productivity and the effectiveness of the workforce.”Alexandr Bolgari, B.A. candidate, International Relations, Kent State University, Kent, Ohio3rd place national winner

About The Foundation for Enterprise Development:

The Foundation for Enterprise Development, established by Dr. J. Robert Beyster, creates programs for research, educational materials, policy development, and knowledge sharing that helps cultivate junior and senior scholars and supports future generations of science and technology leaders interested in the combined principles of broad-based, participative employee ownership and entrepreneurialism. For more information, visit: www.fed.org.